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Catalog Data

Depicted:
Pierce, Franklin  Search this
Buchanan, James  Search this
Douglas, Stephen A.  Search this
Cass, Lewis  Search this
Marcy, William L.  Search this
Maker:
unknown  Search this
Artist attribution:
Magee, John L.  Search this
Measurements:
image: 8 in x 14 1/2 in; 20.32 cm x 36.83 cm
Object Name:
Lithograph
Object Type:
Lithograph
Place made:
World
Referenced:
United States: Kansas
Date made:
1856
ca 1854
Description:
This political cartoon appeared during the 1856 presidential election and takes a vehement stance against the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Designed to open these territories to settlement, this act employed the doctrine of popular sovereignty to allow the people living in Kansas and Nebraska to vote these states into the Union as either slave or free. This resulted in the outbreak of violence between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the Kansas Territory, earning it the nickname “Bleeding Kansas.” This print depicts scenes of violence by pro-slavery “border ruffians” from Missouri who have crossed into Kansas against the free-soil settlers living there. In the foreground, leading figures of the Democratic Party are depicted as border ruffians. The personification of “Liberty, the Fair Maid of Kansas,” wears a Phrygian cap and a cape made of the American flag, and occupies the center of the illustration. Kneeling on the ground before Franklin Pierce, under whose presidency the Act had been passed. As he stands over her, with his foot on her cape, she begs him, “O spare me gentlemen, spare me!!” Pierce, shown heavily armed and drinking from a bottle, drunkenly guarantees her safety. To their right, Lewis Cass, a Democratic Senator from Michigan, leers at Liberty and sarcastically agrees with Pierce that she will be unharmed. On the right, Stephen Douglas scalps an anti-slavery settler. Douglas had designed the Act, hoping that the settlement of the western territories would allow for the construction of a transcontinental railroad. To the left of Pierce, presidential hopeful, James Buchanan, and William Marcy, Pierce’s Secretary of State, loot the body of a killed free-soiler. Marcy’s trousers are damaged and marked with “50 cts,” referring to a joke used by his political enemies. When serving as an associate justice for the Supreme Court of New York, he had used state funds to repair his pants. In the background, various scenes of violence perpetrated by the border ruffians are exhibited. Although there was actual violence in “Bleeding Kansas,” the imagery of theft and abduction in this print speaks to the possession of pro-slavery ideology over the virgin lands of Kansas.
This print is attributed to John L. Magee, who was born in New York around 1820. In New York, he was employed by the lithographic firms of James Baillie and Nathaniel Currier. He started his own business in New York in 1850, but moved to Philadelphia sometime shortly after 1852. He was known for his political cartoons, which he produced until the 1860s.
Location:
Currently not on view
Depicted:
Liberty  Search this
Clocks  Search this
Drinking  Search this
Horses  Search this
Carriages  Search this
Indians  Search this
Classified:
Political Caricatures  Search this
Referenced:
U.S. National Government, legislative branch  Search this
West  Search this
Reform Movements  Search this
Decorative motif:
Patriotism and Patriotic Symbols  Search this
Related event:
Kansas-Nebraska Act  Search this
Related Publication:
Weitenkampf, Frank. Political Caricature in the United States In Separately Published Cartoons
Library of Congress Online Catalog
Credit Line:
Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
ID Number:
DL.60.3461
Catalog number:
60.3461
See more items in:
Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
American Civil War Prints
Art
Domestic Furnishings
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b4-b4da-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_325662